Minion Interludes: #1

Ginger Powder pushed and struggled to pull something interesting he had seen sticking out of the rubble. Sure, it was a lot of work, but if this was what he thought it was then it would be worth it.

Soon the supports that used to hold the building up fell away revealing what he was looking for. Three glorious wheels, a leather seat, and handlebars with manly purple streamers.

It was a man-sized big wheel.

"Oh yah! This is the shit! The shit!" He exclaimed happily, getting behind the giant tricycle and pushing it out onto the cobblestone streets. Leaning against a nearby wall Ginger Power's casual friend Fork stood. He wore only a pair of green trousers and sandals, showing his full body skeleton tattoo.

"Rrragh urrr? Flaagggghhh guh mahhhhhh." Fork commented.

Ginger Powder waved his hand. "Ah fuck it. You can sit in my lap for all I care. With this, you and I can ride around in style!"

"Faaagrahggg." Fork groaned, shooting his friend a dirty look.

Ginger Powder moaned, "Fine. You can ride it first. I guess I'll just sit behind you or something." The ugly man with coiled bright orange hair sometimes just had to give into what Fork said. He was just so damn articulate.

With minimum struggling involved, they got together on the seat and positioned themselves so Fork could drive the giant big wheel with Ginger Powder sitting atop his shoulders. Fork began to rapidly pedal the wheels, and soon they were flying down the streets propelled by his legs. Ginger Powder kept a sharp lookout as they moved swiftly down the ruined streets of Brakka Village.

Sure, it had been four days, but occasionally some villager since back into their former home for one reason or another. Some of them even foolishly went after their new Boss.

Tennoh Thirteen.

Ginger Powder shuddered in anticipation just thinking about that monster being in charge of them. He'd been at the front of the crowd when he destroyed a quarter of the town to 'clear the path' with a single lawn-dart. It destroyed who knows how many buildings and killed who knows how many people, with a Boss this strong Ginger Powder felt like he could be set for life.

His last Boss was weak. Forks and himself gave everything to their old Boss, but their Boss failed time and time again. Eventually, their old Boss got cut down by other pirates and the Marines came by and captured everyone in the aftermath.

Then Tennoh came. He and Forks had been with him since Level Four of Impel Down when they were escaping. They had arrived just in time to see him rip a man into red paste with a bullet. At that moment, it felt like destiny. Following a man like that, Ginger Powder and Fork felt that they couldn't possibly fail.

"Whoa! Brakes you idiot!" Ginger Powder called out seeing something interesting in a pile of rubble.

"Bbbraaaahhhhkkkkesssss!" Fork slowly groaned out, locking his legs, and causing then to skid to a stop. Sadly, they didn't stop immediately, and traveled across the street. They collided with a stone bench and flipped themselves over. They both went flying and the big wheel, somehow, kept flipping in midair until it landed neatly on a roof of an intact building.

Fork slowly picked himself up and pointed at their ride. "Durrrrrahhh."

Ginger Powder layed face down on the ground and clutched his hand. "Shut up! I think I broke my fucking finger damn it!"

"Hrakkrddssss." Fork stated. Then he walked over to Ginger Power's prone form and gave him a swift kick to the chest.

Ginger Powder rolled over in pain and began coughing wetly. "You bastard! You breaking a rib doesn't make my broken finger feel better by comparison! That's a myth!"

"Fug."

"Yeah. Fug. I'm going to poison you dammit! I'm going to watch you suffer and bleed from your eyes, cause you'll be crying blood, and only bitches cry... which you are!"

Fork rolled his eyes. This wasn't the first time Ginger Powder had threatened to poison him. They both knew that he hadn't broken any bones, and the ugly man was just over reacting to a jammed finger or something. Instead Fork looked around for what Ginger Powder had seen before they came to a stop.

They were on a supply run, along with many others, and the Boss had told them to find anything useful for their fleet.

That's right. Fleet.

One of the lawyers had mentioned how a fleet was nothing more than a group of ships sailing under the same ownership. The Boss had laughed a little for some reason, then proclaimed all of the ships they were taking to be his fleet. And if he owned a fleet, it was his responsibility to name all the boats.

It was then that everyone discovered the most horrific trait their Boss had.

He was horrible at naming things.

'The First Boat I Walked Up To', 'Boat Two', 'Ship Two', 'Boat With A Mermaid In Front', 'Another Boat With A Mermaid', 'Sorry, I Made A Mistake, The Last Boat Had A Feminine Merman'. The list went on and on and on. Fork shuddered thinking about it. He gave a silent prayer for all the poor bastards who were going to be stuck sailing on those ships. Thankfully, the lawyers pulled through for everyone else.

They came up with a argument that convinced the Boss to let some other people name ships, and that he could name one more. The Boss had huffed and crossed his arms, but relented and decided to name the largest boat and take it as his own. He named it 'Shadow Of Doubt'. Not too bad, but still. Meh.

Fork and Ginger Powder were to be sailing on the Shadow Of Doubt, and were gathering supplies.

The supplies in question soon revealed themselves to Fork.

Situated down an alley behind some person's house was a small grove of trees with spiky fruits. Fruits that Fork recognized immediately. Personally, he loved them, but he knew that some people hated every single thing about them.

Oh well. He'd take a lot and see what the Boss said. He'd heard a rumor that the Boss was actually born in Impel Down and had eating the pig shit they call food there his entire life. He wouldn't be surprised if the giant man had no taste buds.

He picked a large arm full of the fruits and returned to the street, in the meantime Ginger Powder had gotten up and pulled the big wheel off the roof. It sat on the street waiting for him.

Fork made his way over and sat behind his friend. Thsi time Ginger Powder would drive. They made the rest of their journey back to camp in silence.

XoXoXoX

Walking into camp was a hassle. So many people were moving in and out of the temporary shelters they had all built it was almost hellish to move around. Thankfully, there was a clear path to get to the center of camp.

From the outskirts Ginger Powder and Fork could see the mountain of stuff the Boss had claimed as 'loot'. If they squinted they thought they could even see him sitting on top of it watching men move supplies onto ships.

They made their way torwards him. They passed several men who stood around as 'guards' and gave them respectful nods. The Boss was so strong he didn't need protecting, but the guards were around to make sure nobody wasted the Boss's time. They saw the supplies they were bringing for the Boss to inspect however and didn't hassle them.

Soon, they stomped their way through the churned up mud made by so many people passing through. They stood in the shadow of the loot pile and respectfully bowed their heads.

The Boss saw them and looked down.

"Ah, it's you guys. Hi guys." He rambled in his inconsistent speaking pattern. "What did you bring today? We still need supplies, but we should be able to leave in a day or two according to Klahadore. Turns out he's a genius or something. Who knew."

Fork held out his prize and proudly declared, "Durrrappphhh."

"A durian? Is that a fruit or something?"

"Fah. Mahhhhhh nah."

The Boss rubbed his chin. "The King of fruits? I don't know if I trust fruits to be honest. The last fruit I ate caused me to be sent to Level Two. The King of fruits may be worse."

"Hurrrr depppp hurrrr." Fork argued. He really wanted durians for their journey.

Boss looked surprised. "That's a good idea... Spoon?"

"Fug."

"Sorry. Fork. That's a good idea Fork. I'll try one and if I like it, we can take a bunch with us."

Like a rock slide starting, the Boss stood up and made his way down hill to their position to greet them. He stopped right in front of them, and to Ginger Powder it was like standing in front of death. The mask definitely didn't help. The Boss claimed it was a 'hockey' mask, but he wasn't fooled. That was totally a skull mask!

Slowly, the Boss reached behind his head and undid the straps that held his stone mask in place. It fell away, revealing his heavily scared face. All of the scars were stitches up, and Ginger Powder and Fork both gulped at the stitching that went all the way around his neck. There had to be an awesome story behind that.

The Boss grabbed the offered fruit and looked at it confused for a moment. It was odd seeing him without his mask. He seemingly seemed more expressive with it on. Without it, his body language just seemed wrong...

"So... do I just eat it like this or do I crack it open?"

"Yewmahh." Fork explained.

Without further delay, the Boss ripped the durian into two halves and took a deep whiff.

Nearby, men began to kneel over gagging. Several tried to hold their breath, and just passed out in the process.

"Hmmmmm." The Boss hummed appreciately. "This smells so much better than glop, it's crazy." He reached in and grabbed a handful of the soft flesh within and scooped it out. He popped it into his mouth and chewed.

He smiled, revealing enlarged canines and yellowed teeth.

"Delicious!"

That was all the approval the duo needed, and they took the rest of the durians away to be loaded onto their ship.

Behind them, they missed their Boss continuing to eat the fruit with a content smile. At least, his best attempt at a content smile.